Monthly Archives: April 2015

The finish line of the Spartan Super in Austin May 2014. My 2nd OCR race and first piece of 2014 Spartan Trifecta

This post is essentially my previous list from 2013 of where I stood in all Renaissance pursuits I’m currently endeavoring towards. I’ve edited parts of the list but many are unchanged. I still remain undaunted, I know only my own actions and priorities can make any of my goals fulfilled. Anything indicated with bold type face or an (*) indicates a revision from my previous list. I like to do this, and plan on doing it more frequently. It’s a way of self-accountability that I think is good for me to develop.

Every so often it’s good to take a step back, analyze progress (or stagnation), and make adjustments, and to publish updates on 2-year-old content!!!! Wow.

Here goes…

Learning Languages:2015: Overall: Not that much progress outside of Spanish. Reminder to get to work and build it into my schedule!

Spanish: 2015: Made some great progress, but only through personal interactions, a little sideline study and focus was observed briefly.

-Decent pronunciation

-Kitchen Vocabulary

-Bad words

-Sounding out reading, but lack comprehension

French: 2015: No Progress made

-Conjugating regular verbs

-Ear for pronunciation/conversation

-Latent vocabulary & reading/writing from high-school.

[* ]Business(es):2015: Basically in the same situation other than I’ve put myself in a position where starting a business is now on my daily to do list and I’m taking actions to bring it to fruition. *UPDATE: Now enrolled in Business Breakthrough Academy*

-I have some great start-up ideas swirling around. I’m very confident in 3/10 of the ideas, and have taken action towards launch and lean launch.*

-Potential for a pop-up restaurant is high. I have a good network within the hospitality industry, and the market is prime for a great pop up.

-My dreams of film/TV production are still dreams, *but I’ve met some people who can bring them to fruition perhaps.

-Using apps and technology to automate income is similar to my start-up ideas; action has been taken towards realization: capturing ideas on paper. I’ve got one rock solid idea though, and about 8 mediocre ones.

-Developing a school would be a legacy project, and I’ve yet to build the requisite resources or fully master many teachable skills.

Health and Fitness:2015: Definitely learned a great amount about my body and health/fitness in general

-The quest for the six-pack is ongoing. Starting to lean out and loose the last 5% body fat that it takes. (for progress shots see my Instagram)

-Personal trainer certification is a goal for the next 90 days. Studying between 4-10 hours a week.

-Healthy eating is becoming a passion. making better choices and structuring a diet based on nutritional benefit and balance is something I study between 5-10 hours a week.

-Yoga has helped me immensely since I started 4 years ago. I’m still not as flexible as I’m striving for, but quite an improvement. Always end my training sessions with yoga/stretching.

–UPDATE*** Use foam rolling to recover faster, lacrosse balls for isolated muscle tension issues, and go to a specialist in acupressure and Eastern medicine techniques.

–2015: So far completed 25/200 miles on a 12 person team relay, and a Battle Frog US Race.

Going hard to the finish line of a battlefrog race April 2015.

Martial Arts:

-Reached a meager yellow belt in Judo at age 13, but have not practiced since.

-Starting from scratch in this field.

Music:

-Played trumpet for 2 years in junior high.

-Messed around with DJ/production software: Reason, Traktor.

Food:

-Started cooking at a young age— starting with eggs at age 8.

-Immersed in the hospitality industry my whole life up this point and presently.

-Apprenticed and worked under one of the best chefs in my city, and a crew of renowned sous-chefs, for a year and a half. The restaurant made #3 on a list of Best New Restaurants in Texas.

-Studying techniques, recipes, and ingredients from a wide variety of sources.

-Achieved a good flow while cooking on the line, loved to improve this day in day out.

–UPDATE: ** Food was my entire focus in 2014, and now has gone very far back burner. 2014 was a year of accolades and success in this area. Posts to come.

Love:

-I’ve been in love once, maybe twice.

-Quite a bit to do and accomplish in this area.

Travel:

-I have traveled internationally 3 times: United Kingdom (age 8), Mexico (age 18), and Japan (age 24). Within North America, I’ve seen a good deal of western Canada, parts of the southern United States and Texas …far from well traveled, but I’ve traveled enough to give me the “travel bug”.

-I have only lived abroad once, and that’s my current 4+year stint in Texas.

-I have traveled to Hollywood and Beverly Hills in 2015

-Took a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia in 2015

-Traveled through much of South Texas on a 200 mile relay race running with a team. 2015

Learning Wealth:

-Studying Napoleon Hill, Rhonda Byrne, Darren Hardy and others.

-Recently had the most money I’d ever had at one time.

-Make small donations monthly to 2 organizations through my job.

–UPDATE****Reading Jack Canfield’s Success Principles right now, The Entrepreneurs Solution, and enrolled Mel Abraham’s Business Breakthrough Academy and also in Brendon Burchard’s top 2% Course.

Driving:

-Driven some wonderful vehicles.

-Racing and drifting have not been attempted or learned.

-Drive often presently, so skill is improving.

Art:

-Appreciating art in all its forms more and more as I age.

-Haven’t created any art since high school art class, and that was hardly considerable.

Properties/Homes:

-Am in pursuit of my first property

Teaching/Helping/Giving Back:

-I’m acquiring more skills and knowledge in order to better teach people in the future.

-Set an example of good work ethic in jobs that I’ve had in my career, but working smarter is ongoing.

–UPDATE****Volunteered at a Battle Frog race and helped many overcome the 12 foot wall obstacle.

Agriculture:

-I’ve planed 6* trees.

-I have an aloe plant

-Starting to grow Chia.

As you can see from this inventory, I’ve still got a long way to go in almost everything. This doesn’t deter me, nor should it deter anybody who sets out to achieve anything. I’d rather take the time to assess where I am, so that I can always look back as I progress and reach benchmarks, (2015-as I just have). As opposed to saying “there’s too much work to be done” I say “here’s a way to measure my work against something. Everybody starts somewhere…